Cupid already had his work cut out for him this year, with Valentine's Day falling not just on a Friday, but a Friday before a holiday weekend. Now Mother Nature is making things even trickier for the mythological god of love and his friends in the flower business.

The National Weather Service in Taunton is predicting a 90-percent chance of snow, or a snow-rain mix, on Thursday. Local media forecasters are calling for between 6 inches and a foot.

That's tough news if you're in the business of delivering flowers.

"We have double-jeopardy this week," said Paula Parziale, general manager of wholesale flower distributor Berkeley Florist Supply Company Inc. in Boston.

The slideshow to the right includes interesting facts about Americans' Valentine's Day shopping habits.

The stakes are high, and not just for husbands and boyfriends fearful of blowing a key obligation.

Last year, Americans bought about 233 million roses for Valentine's Day, according to The Society of American Florists.

The National Retail Federation estimates, based on a survey of more than 6,000 people, that 54 percent of Americans will celebrate Valentine's Day this year and spend a combined $17.3 billion in the process. The survey found that a third of those celebrating the holiday will give flowers.

Most of the roses sold in the United States are grown in South America and flown into Miami. From Florida, they're trucked to wholesalers at distribution hubs such as the Boston Flower Exchange on Albany Street. From there, the flowers are delivered to local floral shops whose staffs arrange, package, label and deliver the prized bunches.

"Where it becomes potentially an issue (when it snows) is in the deliveries," said Jennifer Sparks, vice president for marketing at the florists' trade group.

Many of the extra drivers florists hire in a place like New England will have four-wheel-drive vehicles, Sparks said.

Even without snow, timing is tricky when Valentine's Day falls on a Friday, some florists said.

Some florists say people planning to go away for romantic weekends don't want to buy expensive flowers they'd be leaving behind in the office. That challenge is exacerbated this year because Monday is Presidents' Day.

Another problem with Fridays for florists is that a growing percentage of full-time workers don't go to their offices on Fridays. There's no reason to deliver flowers to an empty office.

Canale said about 15 percent of his customers asked for delivery before Friday this year, so his staff is reaching out to customers to discuss matters such as what to do if offices are closed Thursday or if recipients stay home from work due to snow.

Still, he's philosophical about the timing.

Anything's better than having Valentine's Day fall on a Sunday, he said.

Coleen O'Donnell, owner of Coleen's Flower Shop in Dorchester, said regardless of any challenges from the weather, Friday will be so busy she can't give specific delivery times to customers.

The first drivers out the door of her Dorchester Avenue shop will go to businesses in downtown Boston and on the South Shore. The next trucks will go to schools to make sure teachers get their flowers before the end of the school day.

At some point on Valentine's Day, she said, she'll leave the phone off the hook to stop out-of-state orders from coming in during Valentine's Day itself.